SERVE APPETIZERS starting at the beginning of the seder, or starting after the dipping of the karpas (a vegetable, often parsley) in salt water, so people can focus on the seder rather than being hungry and thinking about, “When can we eat?!”

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HOLD THE SEDER, or the pre-meal portion of the seder, in an environment that evokes the story. Hang sheets from the walls to make a “tent,” sit on pillows in a circle, make a mural of Egypt or of the desert to put on the wall, etc.

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AT THE BEGINNING of the Maggid—the section of the seder in which the story is told—an adult or teen can leave the room, quickly put on a simple costume, such as a robe, then come back carrying a prop like a staff, a bag of matzoh over his or her shoulder and walk around the table beginning to tell the story and asking questions of the participants so they help tell it as well.

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HAVE A BAG of items collected (perhaps by a child or children) from around your house. During the maggid, each person reaches into the bag, pulls out an object, and explains who they are and what it is for, placing themselves in the Passover story.

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HAVE PEOPLE ROLE play parts of the story in first person, using simple statements. “I am Moses, and I am angry that Pharaoh won’t let the people go!” You can also have the others “interview” that person after they make their statements.

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SLAVERY TO FREEDOM: Mitzrayim ("narrow": the Hebrew name for Egypt) is a symbol for any kind of oppression or narrow place. What are our personal stories of being or feeling oppressed, trapped, or enslaved? Of freedom? Where are people still in slavery today?

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TELL YOUR FAMILY'S maggid, or story, going as far back or as far “out” to extended family as you choose. Is there a time of “slavery” in your family’s history? An “Exodus”? Times of freedom? You can draw pictures, make a family tree, share photos, and save them to look at again and maybe add to next year!